1964 850 tc

[guru_1071]

I have never seen one in action nor how clean the cut is

mark

im using mine more and more, as its fast and very quiet - which keeps the neighbours happy.

the quality of the cut depends on the settings, for 'hacking out' you can cut quite fast, but the edge needs cleaning as the slag leaves an edge - old rust, paint, underseal etc affect the quality of the finished edge. on clean painted stuff the cut edge can be perfect, ready to weld to.

the hardest bit is cutting a perfect edge, put im getting better with mine - also you have to recognise when the machine is playing up as its easy to think it needs more power, when actually the nozzle is worn, or blocked - i melted the end of mine clean off before i realised this! - like using a mig welder, once you learn what the symptons off a worn part its easy to fix.

the big advantage is that its 'free' the work i did with mine yesterday would have probably 'cost' 10-15 thin cutters, all the plasma cutter used was the air from the compressor and some electricity.

will post some pics up next time i go home with my camera

[rolesyboy]

Thanks Rich. Sounds great. I was going to have the shell blasted beforehand and coated in red oxide. What do you think? Also any ideas on cost to get a set up that actually works on Minis? E mail me if you don't want to clog this post up. Cheers. Mark

[guru_1071]

mark

my plasma cutter was about £500, make sure you buy one that has good spares back up as the 'annode' in the tip wears naturally, this, and the plasma nozzle do need replacing - just like the 'hot' bits on a mig welder.

you do have to be careful with them, mine has a party trick of wanting to start a 'plasma' occasionally when the trigger is pulled - even if its nowhere near a bit of metal - i nearly did myself a real mischief once with it - i got a quality scorch as it went right through the glove in seconds .

[guru_1071]

purchase number two has arrived

[mk1]

Rich,

It looks more complete than some of your recent purchases

[guru_1071]

ive also been doing a bit of digging about the history

the heritage cert came and confused me a little, as the supplying dealer was 'ministry of supply' rather than kennings of hull, with a bit of help from here it looks certain that the car was supplied as a disabled driver car, hence this and the early seat brackets etc.

ive hunted around for details about the first owner, but not found anything yet.

however, with some fairly lame internet stalking i found a guy with the same name as the second owner, who lived in a similar area to what was listed on the logbook - nothing ventured, nothing gained - i signed upto the site he was on and sent him a message asking if he used to own a mini......


an hour later i got this reply......

Yes I did own 647 HAT – Smoke Grey Morris Mini 850, I’m sure I will have at least one photo somewhere. I’ll see what I can find and email it to you.

I’d love to see what it looks like now and when restored.

Please keep me updated – where is it now?

When I first got it (approx 1968) it came from the MOD (I think) and was fitted out for disabled use – hand controls, etc.

I removed the disabled stuff.

When I sold it in 1973, it had had a few mods:

- Plastic front – which hinged forward – result of an accident with the back of a van and my third part insurance.

- Stage one skimmed head

- Twin SU carbs

- Reverse rim wheels

- Minfin front brake drums

- Roller bearing drive shaft joints (replacing the rubber cross shaped items)

- Gearlever conversion – replacing the long stick with a “cooper” style setup.

I was a bit of a boy racer then and used to do my own maintenance – mainly involving the engine on the kitchen table….. happy times!!



Obviously, this may create problems if you are trying to restore to original state!

Sorry!!!


good effort or what!

im pleased beyond words, its really starting to get a decent bit of history behind it - makes it a bit more worthwhile when you rolling around under it in the freezing cold!!!!

[Etienne B.]

good news Rich,
Would be great if the chap could find a photo !
I had the same luck when looking for the history of mine : internet can be good outside Mark's site and forum too !

[AndyB72]

Great stuff Rich! Can't wait to see some photos if you and got hold of any.

[mk1]

Good call Rich!

I wonder what the guy will say when you tell him its being restored back to how it was when he had it. I am sure he will be thrilled!

[guru_1071]

Good call Rich!

I wonder what the guy will say when you tell him its being restored back to how it was when he had it. I am sure he will be thrilled!

mark

he is quite chuffed i think, ive sent him the link to this thread so he can follow the work im doing

[IAIN]

Rich...... That was a lucky find. It is fun to see old pictures of your cars from years ago.

What happened to "DD" which was meant to be ready for Mini 50 ?

[guru_1071]

What happened to "DD" which was meant to be ready for Mini 50 ?

iain

dd is in the queue to be done - its really suffered from the damp and will need a full floor, boot floor, inner wings etc. i always wanted to do it right and its going to be a fairly expensive project - its not getting anyworse where it is.

theres always mini 70......

[guru_1071]

ok, with the second owners permission, here are some period photos of the 'tc' when he owned it

here it is in about 1968 - note it still has the steel front end, but already has the wheels & speed stripes!

looks like im going to have to fit a peco backbox to be period!





here it is in 1971 once the flip front was fitted - note the leston mirrors and the 'gt' bonnet badge!

the leyland badges on the a panels where in the door pocket - they had been taken off when the a panels had been replaced.





the happy occasion is the owners wedding - what could be better than using your own car as the wedding car - ive a photo of my mum and dad from about the same time in a similar pose!


im well chuffed a, to have got these pics, and b, been able to share them.

this car is getting better and better!!

[Etienne B.]

Rich,
that is great !
reminds me my wedding, I used my good old '90 Racing Green to take Adrienne back home from the party at her parents. This mini was very poor looking, much battered by years of good service in Paris, despite having been fully overhauled mechanically a few years before by Adrienne and myself. Well, we leave the party, quite excited as you can imagine, just to find that the car was trapped in the underground carpark where I had it parked, as it was closed night time ! Very clever from me, as usual. Imagine Adrienne fully dressed and waiting for a brilliant husband in a desert street of Paris - not the safer situation. Luckily, a groom from a nearby palace had an eye on her - ahem ! He hopefully had a card to enter the carpark, and I finally found his insistance quite useful. But Adrienne still laugh at me, except for the fact I stupidly sold the car recently ...
Sorry to jump into your thread Rich, I really love your car.

[minipete]

The first two pictures look like Coltman Avenue in Beverley?

[chris-pilling]

haha, i think people seem to be overlooking the fact that this previous owner was sir paul mccartney.. or he is his double haha.. classic photo's guru..

[Pete]

What a result, it's great when you get real history back for a car, especially photies. Airhorntastic.

[NotNormal]

Loving the historic pics.

Keep up the good work

[tomkidd]

Groovy baby...

Look how filthy the valance is... on the car

[guru_1071]

cracked on this weekend - man it was cold!

photo of the type of cut from the plasma - this is the cross member end and i was 'hacking' rather than aiming for a clean cut - all the paint and underseal tends to pollute the quality of the cut



its quite a big hole!

looking in from rear arch



looking into rear



looking forwards



door step



another from the rear



please note the cord on the light, i neatly chopped it with the grinder ( ) 10 out of 10 for taking the time to repair it using proper bullet conecters and rubber sleeves........